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Birds of Prey
Birds of Prey is the Twenty-Seventh chapter of Journey. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Birds of Prey Dust rained down from above, lightly pouring onto the side of Phy’s face. He groaned as he gingerly got to his feet while brushing the dust off of his face. Despite the gaping hole above him, the light from above could barely pierce through the darkness. But Phy had bigger problems at hand. He needed to figure out where the Hunter that attacked him had vanished. He closed his eyes as a searing fire burst out of his fingertips, casting a faint light over the immediate area. “I wouldn’t light any fire around here if I were you,” a voice spoke out from beyond the fire’s light. “And why is that,” Phy asked, but his eyes quickly found the reason within seconds. He looked around him and at all the sides were mountains of TNT crates. Phy growled as he willed the fire to die. “Okay so you made a good point. Now stop hiding and let’s get this over with.” The Hunter emerged from the darkness, wearing a mask, a tuxedo, and sniffing a rose. “Now what’s the hurry? We have all the time in the world.” “I think I know who you are,” Phy said as the other person continued to smell his rose. “Only one human would be caught dead wearing a Tuxedo mask in combat. You’re Ray the Hawk.” “Bingo,” Ray exclaimed as he tossed his rose skyward. Phy watched its progress, taking his eyes off of Ray for a second. But that second was all the time Ray needed. Ray dashed forward and slashed diagonally with a sword that he procured out of nowhere. Phy managed to only get grazed by the tip. Ray chuckled. “I was expecting more of a challenge coming from the human phoenix. But you can’t summon your fire down here without blowing us all up.” Phy examined his cut and smirked. “Sorry to disappoint you…but I’m perfectly capable of fighting at close range,” he informed Ray as his hands turned into talons. “In fact…I prefer it this way.” “Now this is more like it,” Ray said happily as both charged forward, blade crossing paths with talons. Charity and Temperance ran down the hall at a quick pace. On the level above them, they could hear the thundering sound of feet briskly pounding on the floor. “Looks like the Hunters are in a major panic,” a smiling Temperance. “Just as according to plan.” Charity however stopped as she gazed out of a window. “Hey Temperance…what are the chances of one of our sacrifices falling down that hole,” she asked? Temperance thought about it. “It is likely, but we must focus on the ones that we can reach quickly.” “Sure…but if the one in the hole is the real sacrifice that we need, then we need to help them above the others.” Temperance stopped at stared down at her fellow Remnant. “Well if you want to help that person out,” Temperance spoke in a deadly whisper. “Then I’ll help you get down there.” Before Charity could respond, Temperance lashed out and kicked Charity straight out of the window and into the open air. Charity screamed as she free fell towards the hole. Temperance smirked and continued running as though this event hadn’t happen. Unknown to her, Ryan poked his head out from the ground and stared keenly at her retreating back. “What was all this madness about,” Ryan asked himself? “No madness should happen around here without my permission.” Tsuyoshi ran down the hall looking as though he was running alongside a ticking time bomb…even though he would rather take the bomb over Miku. “Why didn’t Hotaru go this way to,” Miku huffed? “Instead I get stuck with the obsessed fishing guy.” “Hey I’m not obsessed with fishing,” Tsuyoshi retorted. “I just happen to really enjoy fishing…at any chance I get.” “Right…totally not obsessed,” Miku said. “Thanks for agreeing. Wait a sec…is that sarcasm?” “No it isn’t.” “Oh that’s good,” Tsuyoshi sighed with relief as they entered upcoming room. “Fish,” a surprised voice called out? “Are we talking about fishing?” Miku and Tsuyoshi came to a halt as two young men stood before them. “Focus Gavin you #$#$,” the curly haired one spat out. “We can’t let them pass.” “I know Micoo,” Gavin sighed. “But I’d rather avoid direct confrontation if I can.” “Too bad! Suck it up and stop calling me Micoo!” Tsuyoshi whisper to Miku, “How did we end up with Dumb and Dumbest?” Miku simply shrugged. “Hey while you two bicker, can you let me pass so I can find my best buddy. You can play with this guy,” she said while pointing at Tsuyoshi. “Hey don’t throw me under the bridge,” Tsuyoshi whined. “Sorry but neither of you chaps are going to slink right past us,” Gavin informed them. “Its slip past us you foreign moron,” Michael grumbled. Meanwhile, Phy and Ray continued their exchanged of fast arm movements. Neither were able leave any scratch on the other aside from Ray’s first blow. After one clash, Phy kicked off from the ground and jumped away from Ray. “What’s the matter…breaking a sweat,” Phy asked, breathing heavily as Ray appeared to be unaffected from their fighting. “Not really,” Ray sighed. “I was born with two gifts that I inherited from my dear daddy before he vanished from our dirt house. One was his dashing good looks and the other was his unique eyes.” Ray pointed at his eyes as though to prove a point. “These babies are as clear as a hawk thus giving me a much better understanding of my surroundings compared to an average human. I can read your movement…and your ally as just appeared 165 degrees to your right.” Phy glanced in the direction that Ray said and saw Trent standing on top of a TNT pile. “I’ve arrived to help you Phy,” Trent called out. This guy can read my movements, Phy thought. That’s why he’s not getting tired since he can read my attacks before I can strike. He turned back to Trent. “Trent I want you to stay out of this fight,” he called out. “Go help Hotaru and his friends.” “No I want to help you,” Trent started to say, but something landed on top of him causing him to be knocked out. Both Phy and Ray glanced at up and saw a terrified Charity getting to her feet. “Well that was nice that someone gave me a soft landing,” she said as she looked down and saw the human phoenix and hawk staring at her. “What are you doing here,” Ray and Phy asked at the same time? “Oh…it appears that I was right after all,” Charity said softly as she got off of Trent. As she spoke, Ray again lashed out and slammed into Phy, sending him flying backwards into the pile of TNT. “Now watch Remnant as I finish off this crippled bird with my daddy’s signature technique…the Flying Dad Bomb.” Phy groaned as he watched Ray spring upward into the air and performed a flip in the air. “No one has ever been able to dodge this technique,” Ray called out as he proceeded to fall downward towards Phy, his blade prepared to slash. “Now…DIE.” The sound of Ray’s blade cutting through flesh echoed through the small cavern. Ray grinned triumphantly…but paled as he realized that his sword was sticking through Charity. “What the…,” He said shocked as suddenly Charity burst into a flash bang of light, blinding Ray. Phy took this as his chance as lunged at Ray, however Ray too removed his blade from Charity’s body as swung in an erratic motion. Both wailed out as Phy’s talon had pierced the left side of Ray’s face, causing his glasses to crack while Phy’s right arm was no longer attached to his body. Phy slumped to the floor holding his left hand to cover the wound while Ray pulled the arm that was sticking out of his face out. Ray covering his left side of his face ran away in a hurry while Phy avoided looking at his dismembered hand that was lying nearby. He looked over at Charity, whose breathing was getting slower by the second. “Why did you save me,” Phy asked? “Were you ordered to protect me?” Charity shook her head. “It wasn’t an order. It’s just in my nature to help others…” Phy nodded his head. “Well… I know it won’t mean much coming from me. But thank you.” Charity smiled. “It’s nice that those will be the last words I hear…” She then closed her eyes as her body dissolved into light. Phy stared at the spot where Charity’s body disappeared before getting to his feet and approached the groaning Trent. “Get up Trent…we’re not done yet. Not by a long shot.” Trivia